Since his transfer to London from Atletico Madrid in 2014, Diego Costa has never been too far from the headlines – for all the right and wrong reasons. The latest of them signals an exit from Stamford Bridge after a lucrative offer from China has supposedly led to a bust-up with coach Antonio Conte in training. The Chelsea faithful will be concerned about the future of their top goal scorer this season and one of the main reasons for the 13-game winning run they strung together in the league, making them firm favourites for the title.
Here are five of the Spanish striker’s best moments for the Blues which show us why they are right to worry.
#5 Hat-trick vs Swansea City - 2014/15 Premier League
After Chelsea activated the £32 million buy-out clause in his Atletico contract, Costa set right to work proving he was worth every bit of it with a prolific start to the campaign. Having scored 4 goals in the first 3 Premier League fixtures to rise to the top of the table, Costa took apart Swansea – with plenty of help from Fabregas – with a hat-trick that made him the Premier League’s highest ever goal scorer in first four appearances.
His seven-goal haul beat Sergio Aguero and Micky Quinn’s haul of six each and made him an instant hit with the fans at Stamford Bridge.
#4 Chucks bib at Jose Mourinho after not being sent on from the bench
In Chelsea’s ill-fated Premier League campaign of 2015/16, Jose Mourinho’s fallout with his squad became increasingly obvious with their sustained failure to secure results on the pitch. With Chelsea heading for a goalless draw against Tottenham, Costa – who started the match on the bench – epitomised the crowd’s frustration with Mourinho who in the absence of Falcao & Loic Remy chose not to send on the striker with his final substitution of the game.
While many speculated it could be the end of his career at the club, it would turn out to be the manager who would leave, with the fans and the squad firmly behind Costa and his passion of making a difference on the pitch.
#3 Goal vs Tottenham – 2015 League Cup final
Playing in the League Cup final against cross-town rivals Tottenham, Chelsea were precariously hanging on to a 1 goal lead with the Spurs threatening to mark their ascension in the Premier League with a comeback in the second half. Diego Costa put paid to those concerns with a goal deflected in off Kyle Walker – originally credited to him as an own goal but later confirmed as Costa’s on the official League Cup website – that gave the Blues their first major trophy in two years & the confidence to push on & win the league title as well.
Mourinho may have reason to begrudge Costa for reasons mentioned in the previous slide but he was quick to heap praise on his striker for bringing him the first trophy of his second spell in charge of Chelsea.
#2 Goal against Middlesbrough – 2016/17 Premier League
The best strikers in the world are notoriously hard to keep quiet, as Costa has shown this season after a relatively quiet start to the previous one turned into a fight for pride after Mourinho’s sacking. With Middlesbrough in fighting form after promising performances at Arsenal and Manchester City, Costa scored the only goal of the game from a scrappy situation to give Chelsea their sixth consecutive league win and a top-of-the-table position for the first time since they were crowned Champions in 2015.
With this strike, Costa became the first player to reach double figures in the Premier League for the season and wrest initiative of the title race that they haven’t let go of ever since.
#1 Arsenal’s Gabriel Paulista sent off – 2015/16 Premier League
Undoubtedly one of the most notorious of Costa’s headlines over his entire career, one of the most cheered moments of Chelsea’s 2015/16 season came against arch-rivals Arsenal. With the match at still goalless, Costa was up to his trademark tricks, winding up the opposition with a couple of sly slaps to Koscielny followed by a belligerent chest bump on the French defender that got Gabriel involved.
While replays would later see it rescinded, the red card shown by referee Mike Dean to Gabriel would prove pivotal to the game with Kurt Zouma giving Chelsea the lead whilst a Callum Chambers own goal sealing a 2 – 0 win against 9-man Arsenal who also had Cazorla sent off.
Costa would receive a 3-game ban for his actions, but the fans loved every moment of it on the pitch – even chanting his name for helping his side beat the Gunners any which way he could.
